LUXOR- PAGE 5 OF 5
More pictures from the temples of Karnak and Luxor.
(Above) Relief carvings and painting on the ceiling blocks at Karnak
(Right) Salah, our guide in Luxor
(Below) Two pics of the Luxor Temple. The brightly colored section seen on the left is a more recent addition. The old temple was buried and the new addition was constructed at what was then the ground level.There is a working mosque within the temple complex (below right).
Later that night, we boarded the train and headed back to Cairo. I was served the exact same dinner that I had when we were headed south to Aswan about a week ago! Airline food and plenty of it!! This time we boarded the train at about 9:30 pm. I slept through most of the journey, and therefore did not enjoy this train ride as much as I did the one going south. Some time in the middle of the night they decided to change locomotives or shunt us to the side or something. It was bumpy for a while and actually woke me up. We understand that it frightened Leslie Anne half to death!! She didnt think that was funny, but we sure did! Sorry LA!
We got back to Cairo the following morning. Jo, Shirley, JoAnne and myself decided to do a brief tour of Coptic Cairo. The Christians in Egypt are referred to as the "Coptic Christians". We took a short cab ride to Midan Tahrir (vicinity of the Nile Hilton and Egyptian Museum) and then rode the metro four stations to Mar Girgus. One of the tourist police on the street "suggested" that we use a young guide - Yasser - to show us around. Yasser was apparently was studying to be a guide and wanted to practice his trade on us. He promised that there would be no charge. Yasser spoke English reasonably well and did a good job of showing us around. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures here, I cant recall why! Yasser spent about 2 hours with us, then shook hands with us, said thank you, and true to his word - without demanding the infamous baksheesh, left! We roamed around by ourselves before leaving. I half expected Yasser to accost us on the way out and ask for his tip. No such thing happened! He saw us as we were leaving, waved goodbye to us, and was starting to lead another group of tourists. I called out to him and tipped him LE20.....probably one of the bigger tips that I left during the trip!
We had dinner at the restaurant at the Salma Hotel that evening. This was our last dinner together. Jo and Shirley were headed to London en route to Australia in the wee hours of the morning, Jim and LA were also catching their flight back home in the middle of the night, and Sarah was headed to Hurgada the following morning. Later, some of us retired to the bar, where Jim demonstrated his acrobatic side with a head stand! LA was disappointed that she had learnt about his unique ability at the end of their honeymoon and not at the start!
